The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 19, 1899, Page 24

THE SUNDAY_ CALL I . ar his by Colonel A en the arill . . the sight of & ity o TRE < TFAIRY - e SISTERS" . sack along WERE THE s - 8 - s YEAR 'y the curb, right in way from the ar ay—and there was u Zasy _as rolling off a log, wa d Cobb, with a sarcastic d all be d without a 4 and arrested being a wi hey sawed a panel out 1 the sand out of this K Ray inst the d up the a but ran their ! sidewalk, crawled to the next block out of then walked away e_thieves who got The other_men in mild offenders, he was glad of 0 g0 with 'em. I s'pose you'll rgeant and those sentries ng of the kind, th wrath, “and your sug- pectf 1o yo mmand- your advice I'll sight free away the g except the ¢ release now answered 1! do notk war a1 g will_be relleved to w. 1 suppose 1 may the junior member, has every- the angered med for & rascals He can into the “lates, f the nant w no one 2 2 my written pay for this s ¥ f Alcatraz.” Cs VIII o Point at long, a scandal, other sum- re kind of a sen- ters” were t hey came in nd mean- as they from morn tili late at night. » the lighte elghts room. Men! . as s expressed it, an take a fall out of Point,” and this was f the elder—Mrs. Frank husband was on staft West. Both were slight, ondes with light blue eyes, iy hair, with exquisite 2 with oval, prettily younger—the maid- ing mouth and ath of which she . as has been pre- Frank, while the the case of each pretty young girl, good features, They generally light, fiimsy nd summer gambling il dash- nails were dr ripped it off held his effect was An_extremel e elder had no real T that one. alike ves 3 whit in much for sashes mmer ihed from their ward- danced divinely, said the ferred partners, to bat ey rode fear- fes for dis- came tripping down ! td wotel every morning, < ; cir bed dalsies, in time for ¢ and at any hour after 2 1 tng with cadet : : N tent. strolling arm o 3 ks with some e : until tim : Sor D, wh never ) mis 1 on rat , or on i ‘ those ings when there neither e hop nc and practice, they e found, each in s dimly ‘lighted, se- tal cigied nook abo north or west al pHazza on the steps leading down to e S tie “Chain Battery *Walk,' imes e surrounded by a squs ends, p ut_more tl tete: a-tete with i tly he a8 just lead under t cory that he Tt you were In I was o in what? Got en pry ed awa door about two feet ug squar twise a simply g Entertained " they in for ‘ner wit and vivaeity downward » street tunnel through th. ft knowledged on every side, w sand, braced and strengthened here enter 4 not only collectively, oo and there with lids and sides of cracker severaily, for she always managed to give o ou don't addiing each his hour's confidential chat, and on e i1l show vou the other end.” the Sundays of their coming had no time th N, impes hably leading to re ‘or cadet friends. oV way, and Canker, half-dazed, vet always e s T ih rove down in the big 'bus with wholly In command of his stock of blas- them Monday morning when the Powell ENSATION oF THE. :/ THEY camg z N-Jury w.s sighted coming along that reach from Polopel's Island, & the edge of the wharf kerchief—even blowing them as they steamed aws No wonder Nita T was_frivoloy and flirtatious with such exampl society, and its frowns grew blac the White st “Sylphites” —c and fulmina both the armor of Mrs. ance. Nita winced at f and hore t s of the perm -permanent residents as laugt as did her more experienced sister. it was explained, was only just out <chool. and Mrs. Frank was’ givir this summer at the Point as a_great before taking her to the far W der sister must soon g band. Everybody knew tioned an_ unive nd’ respected—even very highly r ed. All of a sudden the news came k to the Point *w months after his n to his regiment that he was act d to “Wite erriss H Is of th ame the w met and Mrs f your pres- eir’ dangh ncis Key Gar- tha post itked ret ally en; on the he ding carc 'Ne Kansas, 1l in Tiffany's best style, as were the eards which mpanied the invitatio, ,. ng for old Bill Terriss!™ who knew that his impe- ou s due to the exactions a Ps es of his wife and “Witchie. t a bad thing for Frank Garri- Sonit echo. imates knew ot put ough economy and self-den usand_dol- lars, the outside of hiis pay. s and drakes of It in the six weeks' honeymoon.” was the confident prophecy, and she probably aid, for, despite the fact that he had so 1ecently rejoined the regiment, “Witchie™ insisted on a midwinter run to New Or- leans, Savannah and Washington, and bore her lord, but not her master,’ over the course in’ triumph. To a student of human pature—and frailty, that union of a_faded and some- what shopworn maid of 27 to an ardent and Vigorous young soldier many moons her junior was easy to account for. One after another Witchie Terriss had had desperate affairs with half a dozen fel- lows, older or younger, in the army, and was known to have been engaged to five different men at different times, and be- lieved to have been engaged to two dif- ferent men at one time. Asked as to this by one of her chums she was reported to have replied: “Do you know, I belleve it is true; I had totally forgotten about Ned Colston before Mr. Forman had been at the post a week. Of course the oniy thing was to break with both and let them irt afresh.” But this Mr. Colston, whose head had.been somewhat cleared by a month of breezy, healthful scouting, acceptéd only in part—that part which in- ~luded the break. Forman had the fresh start and a walkover and held the trophy ust two months, when it dawned upon im that Margaret loved ing far more than she did him—a clumsy performer— and that she would dance night after night, the lightest, daintiest creature ia the hop room, and never have a word or a look for him who leaned ingloomy ad- miration against the wall and never took his eves off her. He became jealous, moody, ugly-tempered, and finally had the €0od luck to get his conge as the result of an attempt to assert himself and limit her dances. fhe wa: and radiant and f; free when Frank Garrison reached the post, a wee bit hipped. it was whispered, because of the fallure of a somewhat half-hearted suit of his in the Far st, and the fairy bounded into the darkness of his life and fairly dazzled him. Somebody had saild Fran& Garrison had money, There is no need to tell of the disiilu- ston that gradually came. Frank found his debts mounting up and his cares in- creasing. She was all sympathy and re- gret when he mentioned it, but—there were certain comforts, luxuries and things she had always been accustomed to, and couldn’t live without. Surely he would not have her apply papa. No, but— could she not manage with a little less? He was willing to give up his cigara (i d, he had long since done s0) and to make his uniforms last a year longer— he who was In his day the most carefully dressed man at the Polnt. Weu—she thought perhaps he ought to do that—be- sides—men’s fashions changed but slowly, whereas women's— “Well, I'd rather be dead than out of style, Frank!"” And s0 it went. But if she did not love her husband there was one being In whom her ‘zivo- 1ous heart “baby sister," Terriss, the really bound up—Nita—her s she called her, and when lonel, went the way of all 1ly a few months by the m. the few thousands in 1 had managed to main- to the two daughters. Not one aid out in payment of r the father or husband t 10 an extravagant finishing ng in May of Nita was wung girl's graduating vear, blithe li Mrs. ( the far Wes nt_ even half-mourning arded. ‘Thirteen years ¢ there in ti f the . and not a e hose them in form on_the d have suspected It. Mrs 5 dress didn't look over about the time t robe began to sho the run fe e prize gone to their early in August, §i t Cadet Captain - well to the front in the two sisters had t the hotel to dress for the hop. It was their custom to dis- appear from public gaze about 6 o'clock and when they cf floating down the stairs in filmy, hanous clouds of white, the halls were well filled with fm- patient cavali in the natty cadet uni- otm, and with women *‘w g to see.’ Then the sters would go into the din- ing room and have some light refresh- ment, with a glass of iced tea—and no matter how torrid the heat or how flushed ged other women might look, th inviting pictures of all that fresh, cool and fragrant. The two fly blonde heads would be huddled close together a minute as they studied the bill of fare, and virtuous rons at other tahl fanning vigor- would sniff and say: “All for ef- They know that supper bill by It never changes.” All the same, ously fect heart. at the botiom of this public display of sisterly devotion and harmony and 1 spite of oceasic - 1 tiffs and differences, there was genuine affection on hoth sides, for as a child Nita had adored Margaret, and there could bhe no doubting the elder's love for the child. Some regimental ob- servers sald that every bit of heart that elder Terriss girl_had was wrapped up in the little one. Neither girl, even after Margaret's marriage, would listen to a word In disparagement of the other, but in the sanctity of the sisterly retreat on the third floor of the old hotel there oc- curred sometimes spirited verbal tiits that were quite distinctly audible to passers- by in the corridor, provided they cared to listen, which some of them did. On this especial August evening Mrs. Frank w: in an admonitory frame of mind. They had known Mr. Latrc barely three weeks, and y as Mrs Frank was ing around a turn In Flirtation Walk, ning on the arm the cadet adjutant, th {n the pathway right ahead stood N ture with downc: trobe bhending o sfon glowing in his ing eagerly and pas- rdsome face, pleac vently to bof tiny, white-g Mrs. ( saw it all in the flash of a sec adjutant not at all, for with merry ter she repeated some w he had spoken as though they were abo wittlest, funniest things in the world, thot looked frankly up into b he were the best and bri had met in ed, and t All the same that sight gave ) rison rather more than a an hour. e be love with her ch pe 1y sister—that was his I ut—but wh oh, what might not happen if th tng little & that handsom ards, even if she had to whisk her to-morrow, that had to be stopped, and this very evening when they went to their room Margarct spoke € if it were onl¥ for Mr. Latrobe 1 sho not care a snap of my finger, but | I thought vou had more & you fully under. stood that you coul ‘'t afford to lose yourself a moment, and yet if ever a gir! looked like ylelding vou did this Afternoon. For my ke, for sake, Nita, don’t let | don't fall in do."” The younger sister stood at the dressin, table at the moment, her face averte The Mary Powell was just rounding the Point, and the mellow, melodious notes of her bell were still echoing through the Highlands, Nita was gazing out on the gorgeous effect of sunset light and shadow on t._e eastern cliffs and crags across the Hudson, a flush as vivid mantling her g0 love—here w cheeks, her ll&l quivering. She was mak- ing vallant efforts to control herself be- fore replying. “I'm rot in love with him." sald. “Perhaps not—yet. she finally Surely T hope not, but it looked awfully like it was coming —and Nita, u simply mustr You've g0t to marry money if I h and guard over you and see you you know you can this minute—if you'll only listen.” The younger girl wheeled sharply. her eyes flashing. “Poggy. you promised me I shouldn’t hear that hateful thing again —at least not until we left here—and you've broken your word--twice — “It's because I must. I can't sce you drifting—the way I dld when. with your youth and—adv ou can pick and choose. Colonel I has mines 1 money all over the West, and he was rour shadow at the se. ore, and all bro- en up—he told me so—when we came here. Paddy Latrobe is a beautiful boy without a penny—-" *“His uncle 2 n Nita. feelly. His uncle had a er to support oe- sides Paddy's moth His pa briga- dier In the regular service nly fifty five hundred He can’t have ved much of anything in the . and he may last a dozen S more. Even if ne does leave everything then to Latrobe, what'll you do meantime? Don't be a fool, Nita, because 1 w 1 had to e. It was that or nothing, and father was getting tired. You heard how he talked.” The younger sister was still at (ne dressing table diligently brushing her shining, curly tresses. She had regained her composure and was taking oceasional furtive peeps at Mrs. Frank, now seated at the foot of the bed, busy with a but- tonhook and the adjustment of a pair of very dainty boots of white kid, whose 'buu’nmt glle:ll;'m-:l ler Po;llrls. The mates o them, half a size smaller, pee the tray of \'lta'; new trunk.” BN From came a footstep and a rap at the door. “‘Se at it is, Nita, there": a love ~I1 don’t want to hop. It was a card—a new arrival at the hotel. “‘Gentleman sald he'd walt in the par- lor, 'm,” said the bellboy, and vanished. DUMPED THERE RE, THE LEADER RIS SWOoRL TAE ToR CSF.A CLOTAHING Box ™ Nita glanced at the card and instant trouble stood in her paling face. Silent! Mrs. Garrison held out her hand, tool the card, and ono quick look. The button- hook dropped from her relaxed fingers. The. eard read: “Mr, Gouverneur Prime."” For a second or two the sisters gazed at each other In silence. At last the elder spoke: “In heaven's name, what brings that absurd boy back here? I thought him ‘e in Europe.” R IX. charming writers of 1 that Oneé of the most our day and’ gene ‘the tru m has declar Nine mot issue with the g point, and though no lot in years whatever sh might be would gladl :entleman to the he was only nlor at very first even- ing of frank, im- pulsive 1 e, boy still in spite of the budding musts s, the twen- passed for year and entors when its doors I but 1 the barel d up th t with the ned ummers a that wou titled him to » great univer ber. Studies he ha cricket, ridin d dancing he loved and excelled in. hood had been spent at on althy, hearty English schools that would cultivate physical manhood was duously and all that would militate them was as rigorously “ta- 58 all mental booed.”" At the coming of his twentieth birthday that summer his father had handed him eck for five thousand dollars—the paternal expression of satisfaction that his boy had never smoked pipe, cigar or refte-—and the same weekl v'* had °d off the blue ribbon with the t and the second prize with the le sculls. It was during the “exams first week in June, when dropping in for 5 o'clock tea on some girls whom had known for vears, was preser to this witching little eature, whe name he didn't even catch. ““We me away out at an army post in W when papa took us to California year,” was whispered to him, “and th entertained us so cordl and of course we sald if ever you come to New York you must be sure to let us know—and she ald—but—" and there informant paused, dublous. Other callers came and it began to rain—a sudden drenching shower, and the little stranger from the his far West saw plainly enough that her hostesses. though presenting their friends after our cheery America fashion, were unable to show her further attention, and the newly presented—al- most all ‘women—sald “so very but failed to look it, or other to mani- fest their pleasure. She couldn't go in the rain. The butier had 'phoned for a cab, She wouldn't sit ther negiected. She deliberately Prime. “The ladies are & sasd, with a charmingly “but I know you can tell m dress for dinner after | e at One Hundred ar How long will it t me there? @h, Why, are I thought—" twenty-five minutes co 5. and when it came Mr. Prir with it and her, whom he had n. an instant from’ the Moreover, he at to drive your ou still in” col- er left mement of her ques- discovered she was about taking that carriage drive all alone up One Hundred and enth stre t what other way could dre er door with a relue sion to return in an He left her at intly given permis- hour and eseort her to the distant home of d d entertainers. He drove to the Waldarf and had a ifght dinner with half a pint of heck, devourcd her with his eyes as they drove rapldly northward, went to a Harlem theater while she dined and for- got him, and was at the carr door when she came forth to be driven hor Seven hours or less “had done the by ness” so far as Gouveneur Prime concerned, It was the boy's first wild Infatuation— as mad, unreasoning, absurd, yet intense as ‘aver that of Arthur Pendeunis for the lovely Fotheringay. Margaret Garri- son had never seen or known the Ifk: of it. She had fascinated others for a time, had kindied love, passion and temporary devotion, but this—was worship, and it was something €0 sweet to her jaded senses, something so rich cnd spontaneous that she gave herseif up for a day or two to the delight of study a glorious young athlete lowed her every move and g hung about her in u whose voice trembled and Jlored, yet whose strong, E hand ~ never dared o m y touch her, except when o tended it In_ greeting. to accompany his father Jurope n i week, S0 W e? He would forget all about - w now she was married P ted to Nita, but bad hardly a word nd never a look for her when N was near. He was dumb and mis . all the day they drove in the par jeo « & it. Her whose e brown later dined at Delmc n wi on hi thoro 1 scampert brid peeps at the d es when she w ark again with that gray thist y shark, Cas! s Wa s broker kballed at ¢ club in New York. uld she go with him? He had Rind, sue sald, In the advice - o - her in the investme X e toid the lle w cheeks that burned at lit fortune was alr that pshton's rejp» ersonal visit at the hole of th army, wh - until Nita should and they could go had p adorer th to Daiy's four swiftly hom comfort_hin proachat with her by the day we ma wagking that 1 jealousy arply on time he b ent up his card a 1 credulous, to reply. “Mrs. Garrison b yet re ! ould w aia wait, fu doubt ar help my_ engs far im ¢ t not go so ed by too s a corner. tred. They said it W ites, and he led me ¢ it the blackguard Prime, the “Then we wa went to hurry the ck_and said th ous damages—that it would and mean dinner F and He ¥ te you %) right. AW was a t In and (He's furiously 3ov? The ut MR It was to be Oh, If you only Saturday and cou you dear bo cause for complalr forgive me? And actually tea tood in her eyes as hah again she held out both were the only people in the p A an instant, with quick, sudd {ble action he had cla r breast, and tho uggled passi to his face and s Prime business “unarder ar, and eted poor 1 exciter well-nigh brea strain had bee ter It we could do to make t y try in a rational wa presence others. - When ai he v A fearful load was lifted from her s iittle shoulders w the Teut . had rry. reach Europe t passionate lette that wasn't so ba mascull wrote as often : whom, to do he often as he did, whic ing little, for she ba to have stay piloting the scenes =0 how nerve knew he was wrl one. Mildred h there a girl and longed and str was. Through t through July he romise and did hi rotherly to a lov and dutlful to But he grew w he who had been ged health, anc and ig her brother his love M1 should she nc Even ) T return to Amer evening, late in the and sister were wander lovely shore of Lucerne. He usually fitful, restiess ar day. No letter had reached Y a fortnignt, and he was miseraoly u happy. hey stopped at & grassy bank that ran down to the rippling water's edge, and she seated herself a y ledge, while in reckless abandonment threw himself full length on the 4 grass ntly the last doubt vanist ed. Bending over him, her soft hand caressing bis halr, she whispered: “Gov, dear boy, is It so very hard? Would you like to go to her And the buried his face In her lap, twined his arms abe and alm groaned swered > lowed the Mnrgar was o Ors scort to-night Then she placed her little hand on his arm, and_drew herself to his side. and when he would have follo the others ng straight across the afn to he hotel, tu ° o Lo by ourseives ‘at least ten minntes And s verneur P I » began the second period e's thralidom. A y Tt of (€ {lian at the Point has few oy« v hen the laa any time, bu a bel take he could lorment. Oue comfort came se could not be with Mrs. o gaively explained that “Gov' was such o taily to him when was such g dear boy and they were such !"‘a.c); friends, real comrades, you know). ContWued on Page Twenty-seven.